When Doris Burke called her first ever basketball game on television, she didn't look at the camera during the opening segment. Twenty-five years later, she's one of ESPN's lead NBA analysts. It's a testament not only to her wealth of basketball knowledge and broadcasting acumen, but also to how far we've come. Just like her male colleagues, Burke has been afforded the opportunity to work her way up.
ESPN made headlines last year when it announced Jessica Mendoza would take over Sunday Night Baseball color duties from Curt Schilling, making her the first ever female national baseball analyst. But on the NBA side, something even more remarkable is happening. Many of the network's most prevalent NBA voices, from Burke to Countdown anchors Michelle Beadle and Sage Steele, are women. And nobody seems to be talking about it. That's perhaps the strongest indication of the country's changing social landscape.
"I’m thrilled that ESPN has been the leader in trying to find opportunities for women in visible and non-traditional roles," Burke says. "You can criticize ESPN for many things, but as a company, we should be commended for the fact that we’re now starting the process of putting women in these roles."
Burke is a familiar face to basketball fans. After a notable career at Providence College –– she's the school's all-time assist leader –– Burke started calling her alma mater's games on the radio in 1990. She arrived at ESPN one year later, announcing women's college basketball before moving to Big East men's games by the mid-90's. Now, in addition to being a sideline reporter on the network's top NBA team –– working alongside Mike Breen, Marc Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy –– Burke also regularly sits in the booth herself (she'll be analyst for the prime-time contest on Christmas Day between the Timberwolves and Thunder). Though gaining acceptance from misogynistic viewers may still be a trying task at times, she says she's never experienced a problem in the locker room.
"The players and coaches have been nothing but accepting of me from the very first time I broadcasted their games," she says. "I’ve had a couple along the way, including an NBA official, who admitted to a little bit of skepticism when they first saw and heard me on the game. But this person quickly followed that with, 'But then I listened to what you had to say.' And I realized, ‘She knows what she’s talking about.’"
That, more than anything, is the defining characteristic of the women who now lead ESPN NBA's coverage. They know their stuff. Rachel Nichols, who hosts The Jump, has one of the most extensive rolodexes in the industry. She's also a fierce interviewer, which was evident to anyone who watched her pepper NFL commissioner Roger Goodell with questions about how he bungled the Ray Rice investigation at the Super Bowl three years ago.
Nichols says she notices her abundance of female colleagues, but doesn't think breaking social ground is management's modus operandi. She says they simply want the best people in place. "The fact that nobody sat there and said, 'I don’t know, we’ve got a lot of women here all of a sudden' is significant," she says. "It was just like, 'Hey, these people are great. Let’s have them talk about basketball.' I think it says a lot about ESPN and a lot about the women we have here."
It’s Danielle Doiron’s turn at bat and she's hoping to knock it out of the park.
On Saturday, Doiron will step into the broadcast booth during the Winnipeg Goldeyes’ game against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks at Shaw Park and take over play-by-play duties during the third inning.
In doing so, the club’s media relations assistant will become the first woman to ever broadcast a professional baseball game for a Canadian team, the club says.
“I couldn’t believe it when they told me,” Doiron said about her upcoming broadcast stint. “I never would have guessed that no woman has done it before, but we just had someone from Winnipeg become the first Canadian woman to win a NASCAR race (Amber Balcaen), so there are a lot of firsts out there.”
Doiron, a graduate of Red River College’s creative communications program, has been working for the Goldeyes for two seasons, and also has experience with the Blue Bombers, Jets and Moose.
While she’s never done play-by-play, Doiron is no rookie when it comes to to broadcasting and presenting.
She already serves as studio host and board operator during Goldeyes’ away broadcasts and produces content for the club’s website and magazine.
If all goes well, Doiron hopes for another call-up to the mic.
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